More than 40,000 people were brought to hospitals to be treated for heatstroke and 54 have died since the beginning of the hot season in Japan, Japan's Fire and Disaster Agency reported Tuesday.

According to the statement, from May 19 to August 31, 3,290 people in Tokyo Region have been hospitalized due to heat-related issues. Saitama, Osaka, Aichi and Chiba prefectures have seen more than 2,000 heat hospitalization cases each.

Summer isn't even over yet, but snow has already fallen in some parts of southern Alberta.

Areas south of Chain Lakes got a sprinkling of snow on Wednesday morning, much to the surprise of many who are still trying to enjoy the last days before fall.

"It seems like it's going to be an early winter," said Michael Kosolofski. "The geese are already flying south, and it seems like it's colder than normal for September."

Highway cameras also captured photos of snow along Highway 22X, and ski resorts such as Sunshine Village and Fernie Alpine Resort have also reported snow falls.

Bookmark this classic 1995 article in the Canberra Times. This guy had the entire scam nailed from day one.

By Neil Winton

Although conventional wisdom states that global warming is a proven fact, many scientists do not accept its validity. Dr Jack Barrett of London's Imperial College is one.

To conclude that CO2 emissions are a threat to the environment would be doubtful and premature. Only a closer examination of the atmosphere over a long period and further detailed studies will decide the matter," Barrett said in a recent scientific paper which caused frissons of anger among scientists.

Barrett, from Imperial College's chemistry department, pours thinly veiled scorn on the arguments of the "warmers", saying they are based on unreliable data, misunderstand the self-correcting nature of the earth's atmosphere and represent science-by-committee. He says IPCC scientists based their theories on the fact that the earth's temperature has increased by 0.8°C in the 20th century.

"This is within the expected margins of error for such a study," he says. "A hard scientific view would be that there has been no discernible change in the earth's temperature despite the significant increase of 25 per cent in the level of carbon dioxide. To blame the increase in carbon dioxide level for this alleged slight temperature increase seems to be a piece of poor scientific judgment that only a large committee could achieve.

"The lPCC's reports do indicate that the conclusions are not unanimous but none of the doubters' arguments is published. Proper science is not carried out by voting."

The world's climate had fluctuated naturally over the centuries. In Roman Britain, the climate was warm enough to allow grapes for red wine to be cultivated in the south.

That now failed headline is from Duncan Clark in the Guardian.
And, for good measure he added:

"New estimate based on the forthcoming upturn in solar activity and El Niño southern oscillation cycles is expected to silence global warming skeptics"

Just a few small problems there:

1. Climategate gave skeptics a worldwide voice and stage
2. Actual temperature has been flat, not increasing
3. Actual solar activity has been far lower than predicted, not increasing
4. What El Niño?

Let's take them one by one.

The speech by former US Vice-President Al Gore was apocalyptic. 'The North Polar ice cap is falling off a cliff,' he said. 'It could be completely gone in summer in as little as seven years. Seven years from now.'

Those comments came in 2007 as Mr Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaigning on climate change.

But seven years after his warning, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that, far from vanishing, the Arctic ice cap has expanded for the second year in succession - with a surge, depending on how you measure it, of between 43 and 63 per cent since 2012.

Aaron Frost, 25, was travelling home from work when he was caught in a freak ice storm which caused him to lose control of his BMW and crash into a concrete barrier

A motorist died when a hail storm turned a busy road into a thick sheet of ice, an inquest heard.

Aaron Frost, 25, was travelling home from work when he was caught in a freak ice storm.

He lost control of his BMW saloon and crashed into a concrete barrier at the side of the road.

The car then hit a lamp post and overturned before coming to rest on its side in a ditch.

The inquest heard the kitchen fitter was travelling back home to Bognor Regis, West Sussex on the on the A27 near Emsworth, Hampshire.

Lund University have published a reconstruction of solar activity vs snow accumulation in Greenland, which indicates a strong correlation between solar minima and a colder climate.

'The study shows an unexpected link between solar activity and climate change,' Dr Muscheler said in a press release.

'It shows both that changes in solar activity are nothing new and that solar activity influences the climate, especially on a regional level. 'Understanding these processes helps us to better forecast the climate in certain regions.'

According to the study abstract;
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2225.html

"We find that during the Last Glacial Maximum, solar minima correlate with more negative δ18O values of ice and are accompanied by increased snow accumulation and sea-salt input over central Greenland. We suggest that solar minima could have induced changes in the stratosphere that favour the development of high-pressure blocking systems located to the south of Greenland, as has been found in observations and model simulations for recent climate9, 10. We conclude that the mechanism behind solar forcing of regional climate change may have been similar under both modern and Last Glacial Maximum climate conditions."

Breaks record for the entire month of August.

A new record for the coldest August night was set on the night of 23rd/24th August for Northern Ireland.

The Met Office said temperatures plunged to a bone-chilling -1.9C (28.6F) at Katesbridge, Co Down, beating the previous record of -1.1C at Loughermore Forest in 1964.

Note: This wasn't just the coldest in Katesbridge, it was the coldest on record across all of Northern Ireland.

Thanks to Chris Beal, Sonya Porter, John McC and Caroline S for these links

Britain could freeze in years of super-cold winters and miserable summers if the Bardarbunga volcano erupts, experts have warned
Depending on the force of the explosion, minute particles thrust beyond the earth's atmosphere can trigger decades of chaotic weather patterns.

Tiny pieces of debris act as billions of shields reflecting the sun's light away from earth meaning winter temperatures could plunge lower than ever before while summer will be devoid of sunshine.The first effect could be a bitterly cold winter to arrive in weeks with thermometers plunging into minus figures and not rising long before next summer.

The Icelandic Met Office has this week warned of "strong indications of ongoing magma movement" around the volcano prompting them to raise the aviation warning to orange, the second highest and sparking fears the crater could blow at any moment.The region has also this week been hit by a magnitude-four earthquake - the strongest for almost 20 years, officials said.The British Met Office said the effects of an explosion on Britain's weather depends on the wind direction in the upper atmosphere. Spokeswoman Laura Young said: "If the upper winds are north-westerly it will have an effect on our weather."If the upper winds are westerly then it won't."

A climber stumbled across a 120-metre snow tunnel on the east side of the Drummochter Pass that has miraculously survived the summer due to its hidden position.

A hillwalker discovered an 120-metre glacial snow tunnel when he went for a summer climb on a Scots mountain.

Les Smith came across the incredible sight in a gully on Carn na Caim - the most northerly of the two Munros on the east side of the Drumochter Pass in the Highlands.

The 69-year-old, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, said: "The tunnel stays in shadow for most of the day and rarely sees the sun. Because of that, the snow is still several metres deep in places and below it, the stream has run through to create this spectacular tunnel. It's like a mini glacier.

"I climbed down to the mouth of the tunnel. With the correct gear you could probably climb the glacier from within."